Peer Support Specialist

Children's Hospital Colorado; Aurora (CO); On-site; USD 26,174 - 39,950; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive pay

Medical/dental/vision insurance

403b employer retirement plan

Education benefit

Bonus program

Paid parental leave

Job summary

Children's Colorado seeks a Family & Peer Support Partner to assist patients and families, bridging care and community services with lived experience. You will facilitate warm hand-offs from ED and inpatient encounters, addressing barriers to treatment and recovery supports after discharge.

This grant-funded role, with anticipated end date 2028-05-15 based on funding, involves collaborating with an interdisciplinary team to support youth and families across age ranges, and to promote health

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or equivalent is required.
• Three years’ experience assisting patients or families in healthcare/community settings is required.
• Peer Support Specialist Certification at time of hire or within six months is required.

Responsibilities

• Advocate for medical and psychosocial needs of patients and families within the Pediatric Mental Health Institute.
• Provide information, referrals, and support to youth, young adults and families living with chronic illness.
• Assist families in hospital, community and home settings to remove barriers to access services.
• Educate on adherence to treatment, regular clinic attendance, and transition to care.
• Complete case management activities in line with quality assurance standards.
• Collaborate with clinicians to ensure continuum of care and link families to services.
• Communicate psychosocial needs to healthcare team and support emotional coping and health literacy.
• Support and encourage families to access entitlements and resources.

Skills

Empathy

Communication

Peer support ideology

Education

High School Diploma or equivalent

Three (3) years’ experience assisting patients and families or related healthcare/community experience

Peer Support Specialist Certification (within 6 months)

Job description

Job Overview

The Family & Peer Support Partner assists patients and families by providing intermediary services between the health care system, social services, and the community. Facilitates access to services in support of families and assist in the obtaining of care and resources needed to maintain their health. Contributes to patients’ treatment through support and encouragement, with shared lived experiences, as an ally, in patients and family efforts to become healthier.

Team member will provide lived experience-informed support, facilitate warm hand-offs from the emergency department and inpatient encounters, and address barriers to accessing treatment and recovery supports following discharge. The recovery coach will also facilitate harm reduction education and dissemination of harm reduction supplies.

This position is made possible by and is funded through third party grants and/or restricted funding. The length of the assignment is dependent on the grant program and on funding availability. Based on current funding, the anticipated end date for this assignment is 5/15/2028. This position will be reviewed and may be extended in accordance with the grant. Should this position be discontinued and/or eliminated for any reason, it is not eligible for severance.

POPULATION SPECIFIC CARE

• Neonate - <30 days
• Infancy - >30 days to 1yr
• Toddlers - >1yr to 3yrs
• Pre-Schoolers - >3yrs to 5yrs
• School age - >5yrs to 13yrs
• Adolescent - >13yrs to 18yrs
• Adult - >18yrs to 65yrs

Essential Functions

• Works in collaboration with an interdisciplinary care team to advocate for the medical and psychosocial needs of patients and families in the Pediatric Mental Health Institute of CHCO, and support patients and families with transition process.
• Provides information, referrals, and support to youth and young adults and their families who are living with a chronic illness. Assesses patient needs to customize appropriate internal and external resources. Assists families in hospital, community and home settings to remove barriers related to access services.
• Supports patients to cope with the social, emotional, and psychological challenges impact of living with a chronic medical condition.
• Educates on issues related to supporting youth with mental health challenges and their families, including problems of adherence to pill therapy; the nature of optimal medical care; the importance of regular attendance to scheduled clinic visits; and the obstacles to transition to care.
• Completes case management activities consistent with department quality assurance and quality improvement standards and facilitates the medical and psychosocial care of patients.
• Collaborates with patients, physicians, nurse practitioners, social workers, and clinics in adherence to continuum of care for youth and their families and assess for appropriate resources and support patient with successfully linking to services.
• Communicates information to members of the healthcare team to provide an understanding of the unique psychosocial or emotional needs of the patients.
• Participates in psychosocial activities and classes provided to patients to increase emotional coping and increase health literacy skills.
• Provides encouragement and support as needed to remove barriers, preventing families from receiving services or entitlements as needed.
• Identifies trends in barriers experienced by families when seeking care and provides data to internal team members.
• Maintains confidentiality of patients as stated in HIPAA policy. Utilizes principles of cultural-responsiveness and patient-centered care into clinical services.

SCOPE & LEVEL

GUIDELINES: Developmental, standard, or intermediate level. Guidelines are generally numerous, well established, and directly applicable to the work assignment. Work assignment and desired results are explained by general oral or written instructions.

COMPLEXITY: Duties assigned are generally repetitive and restricted in scope but may be of substantial intricacy. Employee primarily applies standardized practices.

DECISION MAKING: Decisions or recommendations on non-standardized situations are limited to relating organizational policies to specific cases. Brings non routine issues to supervisor. Problems that are not covered by guidelines or are without precedent are taken up with the supervisor.

COMMUNICATIONS: Contacts with the patients, families, or employees where explanatory or interpretive information is exchanged, gathered, or presented and some degree of discretion and judgment are required within the parameters of the job function.

SUPERVISION RECEIVED: Under normal supervision, within a standardized work situation, the employee performs duties common to the line of work without close supervision or detailed instruction. Work product is subject to continual review.

Minimum Qualifications

• Degrees
  • High School Diploma or equivalent
• Area of Study
  • Three (3) years’ experience assisting patients and families or other related healthcare/community experience. Must be willing and able to self-identify as having experienced adolescent mental health issues and navigating child-serving systems or be a family member of a child experiencing such conditions.
• Licenses & Certifications
  • Peer Support Specialist Certification at time of hire or obtain within six (6) months of hire.

Schedule/Shift

• 40hrs FT
• M-F 8-430p

Salary Information

Pay is dependent on applicant's relevant experience.

Hourly Range: $19.37 to $29.05

Benefits Information

Here, you matter. As a Children’s Hospital Colorado team member, you will receive a competitive pay and benefits package designed to take care of your needs that includes base pay, incentives, paid time off, medical/dental/vision insurance, company provided life and disability insurance, paid parental leave, 403b employer match (retirement savings), a robust wellness program, and access to professional development tools, including an education benefit to help you advance your career.

As part of our Total Rewards package, Children's Colorado offers an annual employee bonus program that rewards eligible team members based on organizational performance. If organizational goals are met for the year, the bonus is paid out the following April.

Children’s Colorado delivers annual base pay increases to eligible team members based on their performance over the previous year.

EEO Statement

It is our intention that all qualified applicants be given equal opportunity and that selection decisions be based on job-related factors. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, or any other status protected by law or regulation. Be aware that none of the questions are intended to imply illegal preferences or discrimination based on non-job-related information.

Colorado Residents

In any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.